


Beat Down

by the_cat_momma



Category: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:47:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29487012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_cat_momma/pseuds/the_cat_momma
Summary: After Butch is injured, Harvey comes to finish what he started.
Kudos: 3





	Beat Down

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This may seem familiar, I first uploaded it about a year ago and then had a tizzy because I thought it was terrible so I removed it. Since I want to get back into writing fics again, I made some edits and decided to reupload. Please don't roast me too hard, I'm just tryna have fun.

Butch stared up at the ceiling of his darkened cabin, all of his energy and attention focused on breathing. He’d packed a  _ little _ too much dynamite on that last train, and the blast put a pretty good beating on him, as did the tree he crashed into. 

The doctor said he’d live and just needed to rest, but Butch didn’t know how he was supposed to do that when every muscle and bone in his torso seemed to explode with every movement.   
  
The door swung open and the form of a tall, solid man entered. Butch had no time to ask who was there or ever wonder - the man was at his side at an instant, delivering a brutal punch to his already battered ribs. Butch yelped and writhed in agony. 

The person grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked his head to the side. “You should’ve left when you had the chance,” hissed a familiar voice - Harvey. Of course. The lamp beside his bed squeaked as the switch was turned, and the small cabin was flooded with dim, warm light. Harvey’s eyes scanned Butch, curled on his side and clutching his ribs. He chuckled and sneered, “I want to  _ watch _ the life fade outta you.”

Not much scared him, but Butch had to admit to himself the situation was looking grim. He knew Harvey wasn’t above killing - there were plenty of police officers buried around the west that could attest to that - and Butch couldn’t bring himself to speak, let alone defend himself. 

His heart thumped painfully in his chest. He shakily raised an arm, but Harvey laughed and swatted it out of his way to once again pound Butch’s ribs, then deliver another punch to his jaw. Butch’s head snapped upwards and bounced off the wooden headboard of his bed as his vision darkened at the edges. A barrage of punches and kicks followed, and soon they all ran together into one, long, nearly unbearable pain. 

At some point, Harvey dragged him from the bed and slammed him onto the floor. The coppery taste of blood flooded Butch’s mouth and whenever he could pry his eyes open, the world was in a blurry haze of crimson. Through it all, Butch tried to keep his agony to himself. He was damned if he was gonna give Harvey the satisfaction of making him howl like a whipped pup, but when Harvey started driving his boot into his ribs, Butch couldn’t help but shout. His fingers clawed desperately at the wood floor as he tried to get up, but he never got more than one knee up before Harvey’s blows knocked him back down. 

As Butch flopped into his back, he caught a glimpse of Harvey’s darkly satisfied smirk, but it was wiped away in an instant as The Sundance Kid stormed into the cabin.    
  
Sundance delivered a punch so fierce that the man twice his size dropped to the floor like a sack of flour. He jerked Harvey upwards by the collar of his coat and threw him against the wall with such force that the whole cabin shook. In an instant, he’d drawn his gun and jammed it in the center of Harvey’s chest. “What’s the matter with you?” He snarled. “What kind of rat bastard goes after a man that’s already injured?”

“Why don’t you mind your own business?” Harvey’s deep voice demanded.

Sundance’s only response was to press the barrel of his gun between Harvey’s eyes. His mouth fell open in shock and he immediately froze in place, his hands raised. Butch softly thumped his hand against the floor to get Sundance’s attention. Once he finally had and the Kid turned to him quizzically, Butch simply rasped, “Later,” and hoped he got the message - he wanted to send Harvey to an early grave as much as the next guy, but right now he himself was headed for one if he didn’t get some help. 

Luckily, Sundance seemed to be on the same page. He grit his teeth, took Harvey by the back of the coat, and hurled him out the door.

Sundance kicked the door shut behind him, then crouched down beside Butch. “You look like somethin’ they pull out of a river,” he commented. “You think you can make it back to Doc Albertson’s?” Butch winced just at the thought. The nearest doctor that wouldn’t go running for the police at the sight of them was a good thirty miles away, and Butch truly wasn’t sure if he had that kind of traveling in him. Sundance sighed, then said, “I guess I’ll have to bring him to you.”

While breathing was painful before Harvey came in, each of Butch’s breaths were now audibly wheezy and ragged, and sent lightning strikes of pain through his torso. Red, puffy splotches were already popping up across Butch’s face, a jarring contrast to his vivid blue eyes. He panted helplessly, and had to try three times before he could finally say, “C-can’t stay h-here with…” he motioned towards the door. It didn’t seem unreasonable to think Harvey was out there just waiting for a chance to finish him off.

“You should’ve let me kill him,” Sundance snapped. 

Butch swallowed thickly and shook his head, then immediately regretted it. Sharp, pounding pains burst throughout his skull, as though he’d rewound time and Harvey was back beating the hell out of him. Fresh blood glistened against his cheeks in the lamplight, pooling at his neck 

Some of the irritation on Sundance’s face faded. “Alright,” Sundance sighed. “Can you walk? If we can get to the horse, I can at least get you as far as Etta’s.”

“Don’t have much ch-choice,” Butch groaned. It still wasn’t the best idea, but it seemed like the only option besides laying there waiting to croak. He managed to brace his hands on the floor and raise himself up a few inches, but then collapsed back in a moaning, coughing heap. 

When he started to try again, Sundance pinned a hand to his shoulder to keep him down, then stormed over to the door. He thrust it open and hollered, “Flat-Nose!”   
  
Flat-Nose appeared at the doorway and hovered there hesitantly. His eyes widened as they landed on Butch, then he immediately averted them to the floor. “What is it?”

“Help me get him to the horse.” Sundance braced one arm around Butch’s middle and started to haul him upwards.

Flat-Nose’s gaze darted nervously from Sundance to somewhere outside, presumably wherever Harvey was, and back. “Well, Sundance, I don’t know if I - “

“ _ Help me _ ,” Sundance barked, and this time there was no room for argument or objection. 

Flat-Nose hurried over and looped Butch’s free arm around his neck. Together, he and Sundance slowly and laboriously moved towards the door. For the most part, they were dragging Butch along. Nearly every move drew agonized groans from behind his grit teeth. 

They made it out of the cabin and only a few feet through the darkness before Sundance halted. He guided Butch back to lean against the cabin’s rough exterior. “Flat-Nose, just go get my horse,” he commanded. Butch didn’t have another thirty feet in him, and was glad the Kid recognized that. It was as though a roaring fire was burning in his chest and spears were being jammed in his legs.   
  
Flat-Nose ran off, and returned only a few moments later with Sundance’s horse in tow. He wrung the reigns in his hands unsurely. “Now what?” he hissed, like he didn’t want to be overheard.

“I’m gonna get on first, you just get him up behind me.” Sundance shifted Butch’s half-limp form onto Flat-Nose without warning and climbed onto his horse. He was almost glad it was too dark to clearly see what was going on as Butch moaned and cursed below, and it sounded like way more thumping around than necessary. 

Butch whimpered as Flat-Nose gave one final boost that got him on the horse. He clawed feebly at Sundance’s back, trying and failing to hold himself upright. After only a few seconds, the last bit of energy was draining out of him and his full weight fell against Sundance as he barely clung to consciousness. 

Sundance cursed under his breath; they had a long trip ahead of them, and if Butch passed out and fell off the horse, that was liable to be it. He reached behind him, found Butch’s hands, and tugged them around his waist. “Try to hang on,” he said, guiding Butch’s fingers along the underside of his belt. 

Butch’s hands were probably the least injured thing he had, and he put the last bit of strength he had into forming a death-grip on Sundance’s belt. 

Sundance clicked his tongue and the horse started off, picking up the pace as he squeezed his legs. A cool evening breeze swept over them, carrying the crisp scents of dew and horse manure. He started to think Butch had already passed out when he croaked, “Took you l-long enough, you know. He almost killed me.”

Sundance quipped, “I’m starting to see why.”   
  
“What k...what kinda thing is that..to say?” Butch demanded incredulously.

“I’m just saying, maybe you should think about why I’m the only one that came to help.” 

“You always were...the dumb one...” Butch said, punctuating his sentence with a harsh, wet cough.

“Keep it up,” Sundance snarked. “One of us isn’t gonna make it to Etta’s.”

“Hell,” Butch began, “Th-that’s probably true.”

Sundance went quiet for several, long moments. Then he said, “Don’t talk like that.” When the moments dragged on and the only sounds were of night bugs and the horse’s thumping hooves, Sundance huffed. “Well, don’t stop talking. I’ve gotta know you’re alive back there.”

There came no reply.


End file.
